Landlord Tech—what the real estate industry describes as residential property technology, is leading to new forms of housing injustice. Property technology, or “proptech,” has grown dramatically since 2008, and applies to residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, effectively merging the real estate, technology, and finance industries. By employing digital surveillance, data collection, data accumulation, artificial intelligence, dashboards, and platform real estate in tenant housing and neighborhoods, Landlord Tech increases the power of landlords while disempowering tenants and those seeking shelter.

Help organizers and tenants push back against invasive landlord tech by sharing your experiences about the ways that your building and neighborhood is installing technology. Has your landlord introduced new tech for managing your building? For instance, are there new cameras that have been installed? Have payment, notification, or screening systems changed? Has access to your building changed, for instance you no longer have a key? Have new security cameras been installed in your neighborhood, or are apps being used in your neighborhood to snitch on you or your neighbors? Are there lockboxes outside your home indicating new short term rentals? Please fill out this survey and let us know.

Learn from the Ocean Hill Brownsville Alliance on how they organized to keep landlord tech from being deployed in their home. The goal is to “Equip members of gentrifying neighborhoods with the knowledge of artificial intelligence technology, biometric collecting systems, hardware, apps, and automated decision making systems. Through workshops, collaborative art sessions and coaching we plan to instill the confidence and information on tech advancements and policy needed for community members to advocate for themselves and to have agency over the spaces they occupy and call home.”